If you like it so much, why don't you blog about it.

And again.

Further reminders of my engagement in NYC this weekend. So psyched! So pumped! It’s going to be a lot of work but I hope that some of my friends can make it over and say “Hi!” I just sent out the official BUST Facebook invite and jeez! there sure are a lot of folks in the NJ/NYC area that I have yet to alienate.
“I’m so excited! I’m so scared!”

I’ve been working extra hard (like a maniac, you might say…if you are Dave… because he said that to me… tonight) to create a great set-up as well as get some fun, new things ready for their retail debut. The biggest news is that I’ve spent the past year thinking, squinting, and fact gathering- all in an effort to do the most effective and useful editing to my shop, my line, and my future career as a small jewelry business. This means some good things as well as some bad things.

In short, the bad things mostly have to do with tightening up my stock. So, fewer one-of-a-kind pieces and things made from old stuff. In addition to fewer item, prices are going to go up. I’ve talking to many artists and artisans about this; pricing is ALWAYS the hardest part for any maker. I want to keep prices cheap because I have a frugal heart and cheap-ass brain. But I want to charge fair prices because I believe that I deserve proper compensation for my work, my thought, my education, and my tenacity. Unfortunately, the former and the latter of this paragraph rarely overlap. I’ve been closely looking at the prices of jewelry companies that I admire and will be trying to adapt and grow my company more in their direction. When it comes to selling out, I plan to fake it until I make it. Please, don’t let my younger, more-earnest self know about this.

The good things are that having smaller, more definite “lines” will make it easier/better to do things like search out wholesale opportunities and to present myself in a professional and serious manner. I’m talking line sheets. I’m talking press kits. I’m talking photo shoots. Having a smaller stock also makes it less maddening to process orders and shipments. I’ve become soured on “made-to-order” as it were. I don’t really like to spend my Sunday night making a disparate group of little things so that they can hit the mail on Monday morning. It’s always nice when the shipping step is the shortest in the process.

I’m also really excited to have a more cohesive body of work. Variety can be fun but it is also very satisfying to hunker down and really work an idea, you know? In a way, having a strong base allows for more fun, solid, and fully-realized opportunities. Being scatter-shot and half-assed is no fun. Time to reign it in and become close to the idea of doing only a few things but doing them really well.

You made it this far? Thanks so much for wading through my grousing and musing. You really must be a good sport (or my mother). As a reward, here is a photo of my awesome Thanksgiving outfit. Sunglasses that I bought at a thrift store the first day I hung out with my friend Jess (almost 10 years ago!!!!), a dress I bought this summer when Dave and I went “down the shore” worn over a black slip that definitely had some blood on it (uh….?), black budget-Spanx, and leopard print wedges- cut out of the shot. Also visible is Dave’s collection of “things with magnetic tape”. Which is actually only a small part of his collection. It’s extensive.